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The failure of a critical pump in a mining operation means unplanned and extremely expensive downtime, which can escalate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue in just a few hours’ time.

It’s a beautiful day for drilling! That’s the message from thousands of drilling crews each time they head to a new jobsite. Fighting back against a turbulent economy with a shiny new contract in your pocket is a big part of our industry’s new reality.

When pumpable, one-step, high-solids grouts hit the market in the late 1980s, solids content ranged from 20 percent to 30 percent. There were two-step pumpable grouts already in the market at that time and these were less than 20 percent solids.

I bet a lot of readers think they’re pretty careful — and environmentally considerate — when handling drilling fluids and solids byproducts. But, I was thinking of this recently as I attended the Underground Construction Technology (UCT) event in Atlanta last month.

This month, I will turn 80 years old. For most of these years, I have been involved in drilling of some type.

As I look back at the past year in the drilling industry, the changes are pretty dramatic.

As I write these columns and think about different subjects, I seem to have more to say about certain procedures and products used in our industry than others.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) are undeniable contributors to the formation of ground-level ozone and the presence of harmful airborne pollutants.

Dry bentonite sealants have become very popular because they are easy to apply and require no mixing or pumping.

The North American oil and gas industry has experienced unparalleled growth of oil production over the last five years.